Pingman posted:Stan, what size are the surface mount LED's you used; do you have a p/n; a vendor?
Those look like 0603 (0.06" x 0.03") and they are lighting up 1mm (0.04") end-glow fiber cable. These are available in all colors for pennies a piece on eBay - search "0603 amber LED" or "0603 green LED" for example. You will need good eyesight and a steady hand to solder wires to the tiny pads/contacts. 30 gauge or smaller wires!
It appears the additional search phrase "pre-wired" will pull up LEDs that have thin wires attached but the cost goes up substantially.
Engineer-Joe posted:Stan, where do you get your fiber optic from?
Mail order. I don't remember exact source since I got my life-time supply many years ago. Basically, you buy it by the foot in diameters 0.25mm, 0.5mm, 0.75mm, 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm, etc.. I'm thinking like 10 cents/ft to 25 cents/ft depending on diameter but you may get stuck buying a 100 ft spool or whatever. I just looked on eBay and it appears you can buy just 1 meter lengths in your choice of diameter. For train lighting you typically want "end glow" fiber - so you drive one end of the fiber with an LED, and the light comes out the other end with minimal loss of brightness. More popular for architectural or decorative purposes is "side glow" fiber where you drive one end of the fiber with an LED but the light comes out all along the length of the fiber. You probably want the "end glow" type.
You might find a decorative lamp or light gadget that has bundled fiber with dozens or hundreds of strands of fiber that splay out to a "thousand points of light".
If you don't need the flexibility/bend-a-bility of cable, you can usually find clear acrylic transparent rod at most hobby shops. They usually come in 1 ft lengths in various diameters for maybe $1 or so. These behave like end-glow fiber - so illuminate on one end and most of the light comes out the other end.
